WTVM

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WTVM
Columbus, Georgia
Branding	WTVM News Leader 9
Slogan	Coverage You Can Count On
Channels	Analog: 9 (VHF) Digital: 47 (UHF)
Affiliations	ABC (primary since 1970; secondary, 1953-70) AccuWX TV (on DT2)
Owner	Raycom Media (WTVM License Subsidiary, LLC)
First air date	October 6, 1953
Call letters’ meaning	TeleVision Martin (Theaters)
Sister station(s)	WXTX
Former callsigns	WDAK-TV (1953-1956)
Former channel number(s)	28 (1953-1960)
Former affiliations	NBC (1953-70)
Transmitter Power	316 kW (analog) 302 kW (digital)
Height	503 m (analog) 323 m (digital)
Facility ID	595
Transmitter Coordinates	32°19′25.1″N, 84°46′45.5″W
Website	www.wtvm.com

WTVM, channel 9, is the ABC-affiliated television station in Columbus, Georgia. Its signal covers the Chattahoochee Valley area including east-central Alabama. The station's transmitter is located in Cusseta, Georgia. Owned by Raycom Media, WTVM is sister to primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate WXTX.

[edit] History

The station signed on for the first time on October 6, 1953 as WDAK-TV on channel 28. It was a primary NBC affiliate with secondary CBS and ABC affiliations. It was owned by Allen Woodall, Sr., owner of WDAK-AM 540, and Martin Theaters of Georgia. WDAK lost CBS when WRBL-TV signed on two weeks later. = Woodall sold his interest in the station to Martin Theaters in 1956, and the call letters were changed to the current WTVM.

It moved to channel 9 in 1960 in a three-way FCC switch-and-move that saw WRBL-TV move from channel 4 to channel 3, and WTVY-TV in Dothan, Alabama give up its channel 9 and move to channel 4. The moves were permitted because, two years earlier, co-channel WROM-TV, channel 9 in Rome, Georgia, had moved 70 miles (115 km) north to Chattanooga, Tennessee to alleviate interference, if the FCC granted a new channel 9 frequency in Columbus.

Martin Theaters of Georgia had already purchased WROM-TV and renamed it WTVC-TV. Meanwhile, channel 28, WTVM-TV's old channel, is now occupied by Georgia Public Broadcasting's WJSP-TV. In 1970, WTVM moved to its current studios on Wynnton Road in Columbus. Shortly afterward, it became a sole ABC affiliate after WYEA-TV (now WLTZ) started broadcasting.

[edit] News operation

WTVM's regional weather radar is called "Triple Doppler 9". In addition to their main studios, the station operates an East Alabama news bureau. WTVM produces three newscasts for sister station WXTX. This includes an hour long broadcast weekday mornings at 7. There is also a nightly half hour 10 o'clock newscast.

WTVM operates a 24-hour weather channel known as Weather Now on its second digital subchannel. It features a live stream of the station's "Triple Doppler 9" radar, current conditions, and updated focasts by WTVM meteorologists. It is an affiliate of The AccuWeather Channel. Weather Now is also offered on two digital cable systems. It can be found on Knology channel 170 and Mediacom channel 810. WTVM's website offers a live stream of the weather channel on its website.

[edit] Newscast Titles

• News Scope (1964-1977)
• Action 9 News (1977-1989)
• News Leader 9 (1989-present)

[edit] News team

Anchors

• Cheryl Renee - weekday mornings
• Chuck Leonard - weekday mornings and Noon
• Wayne Bennett - weeknights at 5, 6, and 11
• Dee Armstrong - weeknights at 5, 6, and 11
• Zaneta Lowe - weeknights at 5:30
• Semone Doughton - weeknights at 10
• Jason Dennis weeknights at 10
• Elizabeth White - weekends
  • East Alabama Bureau Chief

Storm Team 9 Meteorologists

• Kurt Schmitz - Chief seen on weeknights
• Bruce Lee - weekday mornings and Noon
• Derek Kinkade - weekends

Sports

• Dave Platta - Director seen on weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
• Andrew Wittenberg - weekends
  • sports reporter

Reporters

• Zaneta Lowe - consumer
• Taylor Barnhill - East Alabama Bureau
• Priya Aujla
• Laurie Bernstein
• Lindsey Connell
• Greg Funderburg
• Chauncy Glover

[edit] Past personalities

• Dick McMichael, anchor (retired)
• Al Fleming, anchor
• Penny Leigh, meteorologist
• Tom O'Neal, announcer
• Deborah Singer, anchor
• Roszell Gadson, anchor
• Jon Kalahar, reporter
• Jo Giles, reporter
• Chris Treston, sports anchor
• Mac Carmack, anchor
• Andy Still, anchor (recently retired WYFF-TV)
• Kathy Pepino, anchor (mother of American Idol runner-up Justin Guarini)
• Mark Haggard, sports anchor (now at WPDE-TV)
• Mitzi Oxford, meteorologist
• Cindy Sardo, anchor
• Suzanne Lawrence, anchor
• Staci Walker, anchor/reporter
• Lydia Esparra, reporter (now at WKYC-TV)
• Shannon Walshe, anchor
• David Chandley, meteorologist (now at WSB-TV)
• Maria LaRosa, meteorologist (now at KYW-TV)
• Bruce Snyder, weekend sports anchor (now at WCCB-TV)
• Justin Cazana, sports reporter
• Jeff Chardos, weekend sports anchor
• Robbie Watson, weekend sports anchor
• Kirsten Olesen, weekend sports anchor
• Matt Musil, Sports Director (now at KHOU-TV)
• Kathleen Kennedy, reporter
• Lisa Moscarelli, reporter
• Terry Silliman, reporter
• Sam Bishop, reporter
• Michelle Aguayo, reporter
• Robbie Cotney, reporter
• Chris Capra, reporter
• Allison Welch, reporter
• Regina Terrell, reporter
• Keryn Shipman, anchor
• Denise Schwab (Dillon), anchor/reporter (now at WAGA-TV)
• Cheryl Morgan, anchor/reporter
• John Lyles, anchor/reporter
• Aimee Davis, anchor/reporter
• Tim Savoy, reporter
• Alicia Smith, anchor/reporter (now at WXYZ-TV)
• Deborah Roberts, reporter (now at ABC's 20/20)
• Dave Spahr, meteorologist (now at KESQ-TV)
• Rebecca Todd, anchor
• Brian McClure, meteorologist (now at Bay News 9 in Tampa, FL)
• Casey Jones, anchor/ reporter (now at WTOC)
• Jade Hindmon, reporter (now at WHNS-TV)
• Ashley Nix, reporter (now at WBRC in Birmingham, AL)
• Amanda Iler, reporter (now at WLEX in Lexington, KY)
• Tracy Flanagan,reporter (WAGA-TV in Atlanta 2000-2005, now media consultant/producer)
• Layla Chapman, reporter
• Brock Parker, reporter
• Angie Hanshaw, reporter

[edit] External links

• WTVM "News Leader 9"
• WTVM wireless
• WXTX "Fox 54"
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTVM
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WTVM-TV